Ricky Gervais Turned Down Role In Abrams Star Trek September 21, 2008
by TrekMovie.com Staff , Filed under: ST09 Cast, Star Trek (2009 film) , trackback
British comedian Ricky Gervais said no to JJ Abrams. The actor, who didn’t become a star until he was 40 with his 2001 BBC comedy hit The Office, stars in Paramount DreamWork’s Ghost Town which opened this weekend, but apparently he has also been turning down a lot of work as well, including a spot in Abrams’ new Star Trek movie.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly Gervais says that he has been very picky about the projects presented to him, noting “I”m not trying to be a film star. I don’t care if I never do another film again. I can create my own material and I’ve got to remember that. As exciting as it is to be a film star, it means nothing to me.” And apparently he really means it as the article details an number of big movies he has turned down. From the EW article
FIVE SPLASHY PROJECTS THAT RICKY GERVAIS SAYS HE TURNED DOWN
Pirates of the Caribbean 2
Gervais passed on the chance to share the screen with Johnny Depp, saying, ”I didn’t want to sit in a Winnebago for six months waiting to show up as a comedy pirate for two minutes.”The Da Vinci Code
Ditto to costarring with Tom Hanks in this 2006 Ron Howard thriller. ”I’m going to pop up and people are going to go: That’s the fat fellow from The Office! Who the f— does he think he is?”Star Trek
Abrams approached the comedian about his franchise reboot, due next summer: ”I was never a big fan, so I would’ve felt guilty taking the part just to be in a blockbuster. To what? Boost my profile?”Arthur remake
”I said ‘no’ straight-away,” Gervais says about an offer to star in a new version. ”Why would I mess with a perfect comedy? They know people don’t watch films that have the wrong font — it’s got an ’80s font.”Magnum P.I. movie
Gervais wouldn’t say which role was offered, but we’ll bet it rhymes with ”Figgins.” ”I don’t want to be the funny butler…because [roles like that] do no good. I just keep walking away.”
So the question is, what role did Gervais turn down? Among the main cast there is only one possibility and that would be Scotty. It has already been stated that Simon Pegg (who is also a comedian) is carrying much of the comic relief of the film with his Scotty, so there would be a fit. But it could also be another smaller cameo role in the film.
Here is a trailer for Ghost Town
Gervais may not have wanted to get into Star Trek, but he did bring a little Star Trek into his show Extra when he had Patrick Stewart (playing himself) on the show. (I know we have shown this before, but hey…it is hilarious)
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Comments»
We have Simon Pegg…. Nuff Said.
Harry Mudd?
Decloaking . . .
I guess FIRST plan worked, ’cause I’ve never heard of him.
Recloaking. . .
He is hilarious! It is nice to see that he also has integrity.
Star Trek doesn’t need him. We got the cream of the crop already…#1, i agree with you. Simon Pegg is GOD!
Gervais is rad. So he’s not a fan, big deal.
Reading his explanation, I can understand why he turned it down. I still think he’s hilarious.
Sh-t. Shatner got robbed again tonight.
Seems he’s so popular. Turning things down left and right…
Who is he?
Actor’s shouldn’t turn down work.
8. Brett Campbell – September 21, 2008
“Sh-t. Shatner got robbed again tonight.”
Lost his wallet?
11 – Ha, ha, ha. As F. Flintstone once said, “Droll, Rubble. Very droll.”
I don’t like him. Not sure why, I just don’t. Glad he turned it down if he’s not a fan.
Gervais is the man. Period. End of sentence. Which is normally where periods go.
So what if he is not a fan? Big deal. He is an amazing comedian and writer.
Not an actor, as he would tell you.
Saw Ghost Town and it was fantastic, go see it.
750 Mang wrote:
Actor’s shouldn’t turn down work.
- You wouldn’t be saying that if you understood the politics of the entertainment industry or were an actor yourself.
Where did this golden rule come from that you have to be a fan to properly portray a Trek character? I usually have found it to be quite the opposite.
I mean, have you actually watched the acting in some of the higher end fanfilms? It’s wretched. And those are fans too.
I am going to pretend that I did not read this article.
Gervais was going to play Old Kirk, resurrected at the end of the film by the changed timeline.
I enjoyed the article, I just can’t stand the anonymous pompousness of the Trek Fan elite regarding this movie anymore. We Trek fans already have a bad rep as fanboys, they just make it worse.
“Gervais was going to play Old Kirk, resurrected at the end of the film by the changed timeline.”
LOL!
#15.
750 Mang
(coughs)
How do you know I’m not?
21 – Very good point about not making unfounded assumptions, as too many of us on these threads do. In fact, my first thought upon reading your comment is that you probably are an actor and know how difficult work can be to come by.
Scotty seems like the likely choice for him. I don’t know, I’ve gotten so used to the idea of Simon Pegg in the role, who’s so bound and determined to get it right, that I can’t imagine JJ considering someone else.
23 – How about Trelane? Maybe there just trying to squeeze in just about every character ever on ever.
Cannot abide Ricky Gervais. He’s about as funny as torture by toenail extraction. I don’t imagine he would’ve been going for the Scotty role. Harry Mudd would make sense but… I don’t see him appearing in this film.
He would have been a great Scotty, but I’m delighted at the prospect of Pegg.
He was most likely offered Scotty. He has the general look and like Simon Pegg, is a british comedian.
I like Pegg for Scotty better, but Gervais is very funny. I love Extras.
and I’m suprised no one has brought this up yet…….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_cwI1Xj4M
He’s so self serving.
Ricky Gervais not liking Trek or actually being – *gasp!* – picky about the types of roles he chooses to accept does not make him a jerk or self-serving. It makes him smart.
At 46, he would have been way too old to play Scotty. But I must say, he’s a very funny guy. I just saw Ghost Town and laughed myself to tears.
Chris
PS Simon Pegg rules!!
Wrong series, I know, but would he not make the perfect “Q” type of character? Just thinking aloud. As for playing Scotty, this guy has talent oozing from every pore. He would’ve nailed it and stolen the film. Just looking at Ricky makes me laugh. He’s the best.
28: Agree completely. He’s also arrogant for such a derivative comic.
31… You’re a genius…
31 – Trelane is proto-Q, don’tcha think? And right series.
Memory Alpha puts Scotty at 43 at the start of the five-year mission, so 46 isn’t awfully far off.
Dennis Bailey (#18),
That was one of the funniest lines I’ve ever read on this site! Brilliant!
First off. Being a fanboy isn’t a bad thing.
Second, one would have to question the decision-making of a guy who was never a fan of Star Trek to begin with.
Third, he chose a museum curator in “Night at the Museum’ as if that was a good role?
He would have been a funny Admiral that trips over stuff.
38 – Kind of an interstellar Dick Van Dyke — if they put an ottoman in front of Kirk’s chair?
Does ‘Ghost Town’ remind anyone else of ‘Dead Like Me’, ‘Pushing Daises’ and ‘The Ghost Whisperer’?
For once Ricky Gervais has done something I can agree with him on!
18 – you owe me a dry, clean keyboard and monitor. That was a good laugh to be had.
Gervais is brilliant.
That Extras scene with Stewart is priceless. But now I’ve seen everything!
#37 Gervais probably took the role in Museum because he respects Stiller, Wilson, Robin Williams, Coogan, Van Dyke, and Rooney. It was a sweet hearted film, and he got a chance to work with a great cast. He was also HIGH-larious in that small curator role.
I love ST TOS. It does not bother me that everyone doesn’t.
There is a certain symmetry between Kirk being drowned in Tribbles from the grain compartment and Laura Petrie in the closet with all those walnuts.
I think the other thing one has to keep in mind is Gervais has said from day one any role he takes involves no make up and doest start shooting before 8am.
He always says if he were to play Gengis Khan it would with his own hair cut, his own skin colour, and a bristol accent.
So that narrows any Trek choices.
I wish Madea had turned down his role. Gervais would have stuck out like an old thumb had he played Scotty amid the young cast. He must have been offered more of a cameo role. Where do people see him in the States anyway? I understand he’s brilliant because I’ve been told so, but I’ve only seen him on ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘My Life on the D-List’.
Gervais is a genius. As for him not being a fan of TOS–well, lots of things I like were written/acted/directed by folks who don’t happen to care for other things I like. And it’s no skin off my tush.
Nicholas Meyer wasn’t a fan of star trek before he directed TWOK.
Gervais? If Abrams is INTENTIONALLY trying to make this new movie semi-comedic, I swear………….I will hunt him down where he lives!
47 – Au contraire. Meyer said he was in awe of directing “living legends” when he made the film, according to Nichelle Nichols in an interview.
Nah. He’s in it. It’s a plot between him and J.J. He’s just saying that so people will come to see if he’s in it.
Look out, Harry’s gettin’ all riled up! I know what you’re saying but I sure do hope there are at least a couple good laughs – we’re all gonna need a tension release by the time this thing opens. Tick…tock…
Tick, tock?? Did you see 88 minutes with Al Pacino?
52 – Was it any good?
My goodness, I wonder how Star Trek will manage without the comic genius of our age not being in it?
#53
It moves along, but in the end proves a little convoluted for plot!
#49—That’s not contradictory at all. He also was never a fan, and in fact said so on more than one occasion. He apparently recognized that the TOS cast were “living legends” (in a liberal use of that term), and that’s not the same thing as being a fan. I didn’t realize that Nichelle said that about Meyer, but I’ll take your word for it. I knew she said basically the same thing about Robert Wise (who wasn’t a fan either), and in fact, claimed that he used the same words—”living legends”.
“I’m standing here among living legends”.—Robert Wise on the set of TMP, according to Nichelle Nichols.
Good for him! He’s not a sellout, but a down to earth sensible guy. I wonder what role he would have had, I still would’ve like to see him in there somewhere.
Patrick was very funny in extras! Even more funny than he was in Nemesis.
And thank god Gervais turned down the film role. That would really have jarred.
Smart chap.
30-
Hello, Chris.
57: Gervais has a reputation for being a lot of things, but “down to earth” wouldn’t be one of them. Precious, demanding and difficult are generally what is said of him on the grapevine. And anyone who says he’s a “genius” – Jeffries Tuber (32) had it right by describing him as “arrogant for such a derivative comic”.
Simon Pegg is a genius and I’m a huge fan. He’s all the comic relief this film needs…. without making it into a “parody”…
61. “on the grapevine.”
Where is this talking grapevine and how does it know Ricky?
Can it get me his autograph?
Harry, if it weren’t for you I’d never update my Netflix que. Who needs Harry Knowles when you can have Harry Ballz?
Integrity, my butt. If he wants to be a working actor, he shouldn’t be so picky.
I’d also guess he could’ve been cast as Scotty. But Simon Pegg is such a scifi geek (see: Spaced), it’s much easier to see him in the role than Gervais.
With all these Brits being approached, I wonder if Jonathan Ross got a chance of a sneak preview. He’s a film critic and big Star Trek geek, and a mate of Gervais. Don’t give him walk-on though.
I love Ricky Gervais’ work, but I’m glad that he didn’t accept, and I respect his reasons to not doing so. I think Gervais in a comic relief role would practically assure that Star Trek would take on parodic aspects… seeing as he can inject wry humor into the subtlest of situations.
At least he believes it will be a big blockbuster. :)
I think it’s good that he’s not in it because people would just go, hey, it’s Ricky Gervais! And he’s ‘avin a laugh!
Big fan though. I think he’s awesome.
#18
Turns out the part was written but never really offered. Gervais is a liar
Wow! And to think that I originally thought that casting Simon Pegg as ‘Scotty’ in this thing was a possible miss-step…. However, having Ricky in this would have seemed TOTALLY ridiculous! Any suspension of belief would have gone right out the nearest airlock….
I’d like to think that he wasn’t offered the ‘Scotty’ role itself, as seeing him squeezed into a ‘main’ crew uniform would have been laughable….and concerning his particular ‘comedic persona’ (certainly on this side of the pond), this could have come of as laughable in a bad sense. And if he wasn’t considered as ‘Scotty’, then this implies that we could have had TWO ‘comedians’ in this!
Thankfully Ricky declined whatever role it was, but this potential casting makes me wonder what other ‘creative choices’ J.J. has in store for this Star Trek ‘re-introduction’….
I think we should be grateful for Gervais not ruining several films.
Ricky Gervais is a genius! The lame American remake of The Office doesn’t hold half a candle to the inspired, Gervais-created original. As usual with American sitcoms there is too much over-the-top hijinx in the Carrell version. The Stewart scene in Extras was hilarious (makes me wish I’d have seen more). On Trek, I think Gervais made the right choice. I just don’t think he would have fit and I can’t see him as Scotty. Perhaps another lad in engineering, but not Scotty. Gervais is a smart guy. He could have hauled in the cash by letting The Office run in Britain forever, but he told his story and got out (and managed to cash in by authorizing remakes around the world that didn’t taint his original creation). Methinks he was on the money on this decision too.
Of course, Gervais generally despises science fiction so it’s hardly surprising he doesn’t like Trek. He’s said before how he’s offended by the fact that networks “waste” money making SF shows instead of “proper” television.
am I the only Brit who finds this guy annoying?
Him not being in the new film is good news to me….
“You’re not married, you don’t have a girlfriend and you don’t watch Star Trek? Good Lord”
LMAO! Hilarious!
From interviews that I have seen of people that work with RG they say he is great at what he does, but is a complete pain to work with because he has the attention span of a geriatric gold fish and constantly plays puerile practical jokes. His behaviour was backed up with documentary footage as far as I remember.
Glad he turned down any involvement in Star Trek, IMHO. Agree that Pegg will be great.
70. Ditto. This is good news. Even seeing him in the background would have been annoying and distracting.
73 – I’m not a Brit, but I am in BBC’s second-largest market, and I, too, find him annoying.
I just don’t find him particularly funny. Each to his own, I suppose. I’m British; and my favourite BBC comedy is Red Dwarf. I think that there should be a central focus of humour (Scotty) in this film. Too many comedians, and you ruin the focus; and the drama. Pegg is funny. He should be good.
Like d’oh… he of course was going to be cast as a never-promoted 49 year old “Ensign Ricky”, who is the first *red*shirt to die!
It makes total sense.
I was never a fan of this guy, I haven’t found any of his work to be particularly funny, but yeah, it’s nice to see he at least has some integrity. Most people would have jumped at the chance to be in Star Trek or Pirates 2, even if they weren’t fans.
I am not a fan of Gervais either. Can’t you tell?
I always saw him as a snooty Brit with his nose high up in the air. His comment about the networks shouldn’t be doing SF proves my point.
Anyways, it’s a good thing he isn’t in Trek, he would’ve turned it into JJ’s worst feares, Galaxy Quest 2. If that happened, we could all kiss Trek goodbye forever.
#2–Harry Mudd?
Perhaps Cyrano Jones??
I’m glad he didn’t take it. I’m a huge fan of his and seeing him on the Enterprise would have taken me right out of the movie! But a very interesting piece of news!
Did you know tha Simon Pegg was cast in the role of Benji in Mission Impossible III (2006) after Ricky Gervais was unable to take the role.
Things that make you go Hmmmmm
personally, I’d rather see more Senior Captain/Admiral cameos, with actors in the Don Cheadle, Stellan Skaarsgard, Helen Mirren category…
Gervais was funny on the Emmys last night, so I take back my uncharitable comment above. But he’s way too OTT for TREK.
Ricky is brilliant, he’s a fellow fat brit with great wit…!
but he did the right thing, he’s not right for Trek. Would have been too distracting, The Office and Extras are classics in their own right and are so good he would have taken attention away a bit from the film for those of us who are big fans of both.
Great wit? Watch his stand-up routine, then check out Bill Hicks. Who did it better, and died, ten years before Gervais was even heard of. Gervais “borrows” his “wit” from proper comedians. I’d rather watch the Fast Show.
And I think Jeffries Tuber (85) might actually be a parallel incarnation of myself, because I, once again, agree with what I assume is an “him”.
at least he says the movie is going to be a blockbuster!!
#63
elmachocombo, you are too kind!! Thanks for the feedback!
well, gotta go watch my next movie…………..
this guy is one of Britains finest. however im not sure this would have been a good idea. Im pretty glad he turned it down and im surprised it was offered. BTW i am a Brit.
Greg UK
More dream Admirals & Senior Captains:
Angela Basset
Christiane Amanpour
Vincent D’Onofrio
Sigourney Weaver-as-Vulcan
Gene Hackman
Ed Harris
like a lot of others, i enjoy his stuff but i don’t think having him in trek would have been a good idea, especially if he was going to be considered for scotty.
i never watched ‘alias’ but i believe he was in a couple of episodes?
the extras scene with patrick stewart is genius, but my own personal favourite from that show was ian mckellen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43sbtkQM6zc
If Gervais really was chosen for Scotty, it was a very bad call. Scotty is dead center of the brawl at K-7 in TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES, and there’s no way anyone would buy Gervais in that scene.
Pegg’s perfect, really.
The only one I have a ’show me’ attitude towards is the new Chekov. I get that he’ll do the Russian wit/sarcasm/skepticism thing well, but I don’t think chicks’ll dig him. I think young Wesley Crusher could take that kid down.
heres my fav gervais scene. Its from last years ‘extras’ series. here he delivers a fantastic damning speech on reality tv when he is a contestant on big brother. this exposes so many truths its quite remarkable. best thing on TV for a long while.
enjoy
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EQAr_AjZt-E&feature=related
Greg
UK
Um…no
thank god he turned it down….whatever it was… small or large part would have been a horrible miscasting.
42
“I love ST TOS. It does not bother me that everyone doesn’t.”
Uh,…who says everyone hates it? “Everyone” does not speak for me. It’s always been the ONLY one to me.
I love Gervais. Extras was really great. I don’t see him in a Star Trek movie though. Seems like he turns down quite a few good things.
Magnum PI. Hmmm… I know I guy who’d play a great Higgins. His name is John Hillerman.
#56 – I think you’re probably right that she was talking about Robert Wise. Please forgive the faulty memory of an aging man.
I do remember however that Nicholas Meyer said that the original cast had the rarest of stellar qualities — charm — in abundance.
#81 -”snooty Brit with his nose high up in the air”
This makes me think you haven’t seen more than 30 seconds of his work. Don’t like him? Fine. But that is such a blatant mischaracterization of him and his work. Extras does little else but make fun of snootiness (his ***character*** is rather so). Check out the “Christmas” season finale of that show – it’ll disprove your point. Handily. With an atomic weapon.
#97 I’m speaking specifically about Gervais, not literally “everyone”. I am more like you than you realize, btw. I don’t consider anything but TOS to be ST. I try not to state that often, because I’m not looking for a brawl, and to each his own. But I meant that Gervais’ view on ST doesn’t phase me in the least.
Jeffries Tuber:
Helen Mirren — OMG, Yes!
Vincent D’Onofrio — Maybe as a villain
Don Cheadle, Stellan Skaarsgard — I love these actors, but it’s hard for me to picture either.
My dream list for Star Trek would include Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Ed Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, and Hugh Jackman. (Coming up with it seat-of-the-pants style — I’m sure I could think of more.)
I’d also love to see Michelle Forbes play a part as an admiral (obviously not as Ro Laren — wrong era and Ro turns renegade in the end anyway), kind of like her role as Admiral Cain in Batllestar Galactica, but not as brutal.
—-
#99 – Weyoun Gretzky — I totally agree. If anything, Ricky Gervais is a master at skewering the whole “snooty Brit” image. His characters end up as unwitting parodies of themselves. It’s all pretty subtle and nuanced a lot of the time, so, indeed, one must be paying attention. That’s my considered opinion as an American fan of many BBC shows.
#95: I actually find that scene almost offensive. The meta-effect of that Extras special is that Gervais is saying that it’s a one-in-the-million creator who can combine popularity with artistic integrity. Like him.
#99: I’m not sure I agree with that. I think Gervais seems to have perfected the ‘double blind’ style of writing and self-presentation where he presents this ‘character’ of conceited egoism and everybody laughs along, and doesn’t get turned off, because it seems to be a parody – a joke we’re all in on.
The trouble is that, after all this time and all this exposure through different media, it’s pretty clear that if you scratch Gervais’ self constructed image of conceited egoism you find… more conceit and ego.
#102
i think it just ricky saying he’s fed up with seeing z grade so called celebs living their lives out in the open. He’s also saying that in the scheme of things seeing a pcture of cameron diaz with a pimple isnt important and that people should really get on with their lives.
I dont know where you are from but this specch struck a particular chord here in the UK. He also hit the nail on the head when he talked about the victorian freak show never went away and that its now in the form of big brother and similar shows on TV where ‘the bewildered’ are brought out to be sniggered at by the masses. programme makers do seem to wash their hands of the fact that a lot of the time they exploit vulnerable people for the sake of ratings.
Greg UK
very good points indeed.
I’m from the British Isles too and, I have to say, watching it on transmission it really did seem the most toe-curlingly patronising and hypocritical thing ever.
It really was a speech designed to prove and show how much better Ricky Gervais is than all his contemporaries. His hypocrisy is huge (this is the man, after all, that made a record breaking series of podcasts off the back of signing up, and laughing at, a man he himself describes as “retarded, basically”. And who engaged in dubious tactics when getting participants for his Extras series (according to at least one who dealt with him, it’s clear that if you turn him down it will *made known* you turned him down and that you obviously think yourself so-much-better than DeNiro, Stiller etc.)
The only difference between Gervais and the makers of reality television is that they do it for ratings and he does it to inflate his own sense of self-regard.
I completely disagree Nuallain but i do respect your opinion.
cheers
Greg
UK
Like those other films,
maybe Rickey smells a Stinker of a part.
Not really saying that the new film will stink.
However the concept of Scotty being
played a clown sure stinks up the place for me.
Maybe the producers are trying to turn the Scotty role
into a Will Tippon type character?
At least Nimoy is still Spock!
#2 Harry Mudd. LOL